Pokémon: Starting as a Farmer Instead of a Trainer

Chapter 281 Ponpo is going to solo Team Rocket (Seeking monthly votes)

Upon entering the circus, Mingyou and Xiaozhao were immediately drawn to the joyful atmosphere. They jogged to the back of the audience seats and looked down at the two "Emperors of Flames" performing a dance with great effort on the stage below!

Of course, this is not the real Ent Emperor, but a transformation by a highly skilled Ditto. Using a legendary Pokémon as a gimmick to attract customers is a common promotional tactic.

Behind Ditto, its two trainers are using their canes to guide and pass on commands, so that their Ditto can defeat the other in this special "lion dance". Whoever falls off the standing pillar first loses.

To run a circus in the Pokémon world, you need to have some real talent to attract customers. It's hard to survive, since a bunch of rookie trainers are doing something really entertaining every day.

"Wow, that's pretty impressive!"

"One minute on stage requires ten years of practice off stage; it's not something you can master easily."

The two found empty seats in the back row, started chatting, and watched the amazing and spectacular lion dance performance together.

Amidst the enthusiastic applause around them, the snacks and drinks they had bought had all been devoured. Xiao Zhao, without anyone noticing, gently nestled against Ming You, who in turn gently embraced her. They remained intimately close together as they continued to enjoy the next round of the show.

"Mengmeng~"

The wings that had been hiding behind them grew even more excited upon witnessing this scene, but a crisis was also quietly approaching at that moment...

"Mmm!"

Inside the circus tent, Ponpo lifted a corner from the other side and crawled in. Although she didn't know when Team Rocket would arrive, as long as she stayed by Mingyou's side, she would see them sooner or later.

It walked quietly along the edge of the tent, intending to find Zhenyi and a few others first.

But just then, its foot seemed to kick something. Looking down, it was startled to find that it was a gas bomb!

Moreover, near this tent, there were many gas bombs buried in the sand, just like potato mines placed there.

(Danyu was overjoyed)

"Hmm?!"

Ponpo instantly became alert. Why would there be Koffing here? It didn't have a good impression of these kinds of Pokémon, and they were extremely dangerous. The manor had been blown up by Koffing and Double Koffing a few months ago.

Now, all these gas bombs are buried inside a relatively enclosed tent. Could it be that Team Rocket is going to use the same trick again? Are they planning to use so many gas bombs to blow up Mingyou into hero fragments?

This won't do!

terrible!

Ponpo couldn't imagine such a scene. Regardless of whether the Rocket Team planted them or not, these gas bombs posed a serious safety hazard in such a confined environment and had to be removed!

If a fire were to break out, the consequences would be unimaginable!

So it immediately pulled out a thorny vine and forcefully knocked all the gas bombs out of the tent like bowling a nut, making a loud banging sound.

Before the gas bombs could react, they were struck on the head. In no time, more than a dozen gas bombs that were about to release hypnotic gas all lost consciousness and continued to roll around on the beach under the cover of night.

At that very moment, the leader of the Team Rocket members who had left the tent earlier pressed a red button.

Then a slight smile appeared on his lips. He took out a cigarette from his pocket, put it in his mouth, took out a match, and said with a smile, "This is the guy who defeated Lord Lambda? So easy. I really don't know what Lord Lance has to take so seriously."

"Haha, once the hypnotic gas takes effect, let's capture him and hand him over to Lord Lance. Maybe we can get promoted and make a fortune too."

"I heard that Musashi and Kojiro have all been promoted recently, looks like our chance has come too... But have you guys smelled anything strange? And it looks very familiar..."

"Um?"

It wasn't until someone said that the remaining people finally realized that this... seemed to be the smell of a gas bomb, and it was very strong.

thump—

Something seemed to roll to their feet. One of them shuddered and instinctively looked down. He saw one... no, many gas bombs that had lost consciousness and had been blown over by the sea breeze like tumbleweeds!

These gas bombs are equipped with a device that Team Rocket uses to control Pokémon. Upon receiving a signal, the device can stimulate the gas, causing the gas bomb to detonate remotely or release poison gas or other gases, making it very convenient and quick.

The red button he pressed earlier was the start switch, but now he was immersed in the joy of completing the task. Ignoring the anxious reminders of others, he had already flicked the matchstick with a "whoosh" in order to light his cigarette... In the brief, dazzling light, everyone saw their grandmother.

boom--

All the gas bombs detonated, and the deafening explosions attracted all the tourists in the vicinity, including the audience watching the circus performance, who all looked in the direction from which the explosions came.

"Has the fireworks display started yet?"

Mingyou was a little confused, so she checked the time on her phone. It was clearly not even 7:30 pm yet, but she decided to continue watching the circus performance. The show "Little Fire Horse Crossing the River" was really good.

Outside the tent, Pengpeng, who heard the explosion, ran out in a panic, thinking that she had used too much force and accidentally detonated the gas bomb.

"Hmm..."

I hope he's alright...

The circus performance didn't end until 7:30. Mingyou was still holding Xiaozhao's hand, and the two of them were still a little reluctant to leave. They were happily discussing the story of "The Little Pony Crossing the River" and whether the little pony actually drowned in the river at the end.

Lance mingled in the crowd on the shore, observing the scene through binoculars, a smile on his face: "A bunch of useless bastards. Is this the plan you were talking about? All I see is Mingyou, completely unharmed, happily strolling around with his girlfriend."

Behind him, several junior officers from Team Rocket were unsure how to speak. Because there were too many people around, it was inconvenient for them to directly attack Mingyou, so they considered other options first.

But like Sakaki, Lance wouldn't give a second chance. He put down his binoculars, adjusted his hat, turned around, and said to his men, "Sylva is handling Meloetta, so we just need to take care of Naruto!"

"I'll go and meet him myself later. It seems he didn't bring any Pokémon with him because of the date. This is a great opportunity. These guys who keep saying their bond with Pokémon is more important than anything else, don't they just show their true colors when they're around women? It's not a funny joke at all."

When Lance spoke, no one dared to utter a word. He no longer needed their advice; he would personally take charge. As the most ruthless executive in the Rockets, he would demonstrate to his subordinates what Lance truly was!

Team Rocket resumed their operation, while the two, completely unaware of everything, were playing a game of catching goldfish on the street, never expecting to find it here as well.

Back in Beishang Township, the two had once competed in catching goldfish, with Mingyou and Pengpeng emerging victorious. However, this time, the two of them teamed up and ruthlessly crushed all their opponents with their absolute strength, taking home all the grand prizes from the goldfish catching competition.

"Hmm..."

Ponpo wandered around alone not far away, but when it returned to the tent, the party had already ended. It couldn't find Mingyou and Zhenyifa, which made it a little irritable and worried. It was afraid that if it wasn't there, Mingyou's date would be ruined by Team Rocket suddenly jumping out.

Just as it rallied and prepared to continue its search for Mingyou, a man's voice suddenly came from behind it.

"Hey, kid."

"Hmm?"

Ponpo turned around curiously. Because it usually wears a ghost mask when there are strangers around, even when it is not in battle, people who do not know it will subconsciously mistake it for a human child rather than a Pokémon.

It didn't speak, lest its cries frighten the other party. It simply looked up and saw a man in front of it wearing a black uniform that looked strangely familiar. He was also wearing a black hat that concealed his short, light blue hair.

"Hmm..."

Ponpon didn't find anything suspicious about the other person, but thought they were dressed quite fashionably. So she tilted her head, wondering what the other person wanted from her. If there was nothing else, she would leave first.

"Wait a minute, I just want to ask you a favor: to deliver this important letter to someone."

Lance didn't recognize Ponpo's identity. He took out a letter and some change, handed it over, and said with a smile, "This delivery fee is enough for you to buy two triple-layer ice creams."

"Hmm..."

Ponpo reached out and took it. Delivering a letter wouldn't take much time, and there would even be a delivery fee. Although it wasn't short of money, being helpful had always been its strength.

"Mmm~"

Ponpo nodded slightly, then gestured to the other party that she couldn't speak, which made Lance even more satisfied. A mute errand boy would save time from having to silence him later.

So he waved his hand, gathering his momentum, and pointed to Mingyou, who had just finished catching goldfish and was buying cotton candy for Xiaozhao at a stall where wind sprites were making cotton candy.

Ponpon looked in the direction the sign indicated and was stunned. How could it be Mingyou?

"It's him! Then please help me!"

"..."

Ponpo hesitated for a moment, then nodded gently, took the letter, and ran happily toward Mingyou. It could feel the gaze coming from behind it; that guy hadn't left but was staring at it.

However, it wasn't raised on a vegetarian diet. As it ran towards Mingyou, vines and branches extended from under its cloak, secretly opening the letter without anyone noticing.

Although it also felt it was impolite to open someone else's letter to Mingyou, it had to eliminate all possible hidden dangers to avoid interfering with their date!

The letter was opened. It was now quite familiar with human writing. The handwriting was a bit messy, but the content mentioned that Mingyou should go to the other side of the coast before 8 p.m., and that he could not bring any Pokémon and had to come empty-handed.

Otherwise... Meloetta will be taken away by us. You don't want it to be captured and sold as merchandise by Team Rocket, do you? — Lance of Team Rocket

"Hmm!?"

……

(End of this chapter)